N is for:Names - I have always been fascinated by the fashion of Christian names, and have come across in the past few weeks some unusual examples:

Alice Repentance ________. This sounds as if it stemmed from 17th century Puritan times but I came across it in Lancashire Old Parish Records online - and the date 1878. What could be the background to this choice of middle name?

Isabella Verdun Ypres_____, born in the First World War. Again what sad story was behind these choice of battle names for a baby?

Zeppelina_________ celebrated her 21st birthday with a newspaper report that she was named after a German Zepplin which crashed near her her home in Essex on the day she was born in 1916.

Back in the 17th century, Puritan influences made popular Faith, Hope, Charity and Patience and there is a current resurgence of Biblical names such as Daniel and Noah. In the 19th century, many a child was named Albert after Queen Victoria's husband, or Florence after Florence Nightingale - examples in several branches of my family.

Maria Rawcliffe

I like the old fashioned name of Jennet which features in my family and have always wondered at my great grandmother's name of Maria. It seemed rather exotic for the daughter of an Ag. Lab when her sisters were more mundanely called Anne, Jane, Margaret, Martha, and Alice. Then I read in "The Guinness Book of Names" by Leslie Alan Dunking, that Maria was 15th in the list of popular girl's names in England in 1850.

For family historians, the traditional naming pattern of Scotland and the north of England can help confirm if you are on the right family i.e. eldest son named after paternal grandfather, eldest daughter after maternal grandmother, second son after maternal grandfather, second daughter after paternal grandmother. Though it can lead to a proliferation of the same name across a large family of sons and cousins - in one of my branches there were six John Brynings alive in 1797 - grandfather, one son andfour sons of sons. A clear head needed to identify "your" particular one!

This tradition seemed to die out at the turn of the 19th-20th century when other names appeared that did not survive too long beyond the early decades - Ethel, Doris, Edith, Winifred, Olive, Gertrude, Hilda and Elsie. In my husband's family c.1908-14. three daughters were christened Ivy, Lily and Violet.

Elizabeth and Margaret abounded in my school classroom - royal influence no doubt. In the Scottish Borders, surnames can be adopted as Christian names, so it is not unusual to get a Scott Elliot and an Elliot Scott.

I could go on for ever! I like to keep an eye out for the more unusual names - one being an Amethyst who, despite her opulent sounding name, was unfortunately an inmate in the Jedburgh Poorhouse. A fellow researcher in my local archives made sure we all knew his delight at finding an Horatio in the family in the early 19th century - named after Lord Nelson he liked to think.

Newspapers - I love browsing through old newspapers. They are goldmines, full of snippets of information that give a contemporary eye view. This is not textbook history but it is full of vigour on many varied aspects of life at the time for ordinary people.

My local archive centre holds 25 titles of local newspapers, with the oldest dated 1804. The earlier local newspapers contained little local news, but were full of headlines on “Foreign Intelligence”, “London Intelligence” and “Colonial News” with reports on parliamentary debates, court cases, military campaigns, society events, royal visits etc. Local news usually featured under a heading for the individual town or village.

After the Newspaper Stamp Duty was abolished in 1855, the prices of newspapers dropped and towns rushed to print their own. As national newspapers emerged in the later 19th

century, local papers concentrated more on events in their immediate area.

Wedding dress - 1879
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No doubt because of the cost, notices of births, marriages & deaths were often short merely stating - “On the 1st inst, a son named...."with the mother’s name not always given. Entries from the landed gentry and professions inevitably predominated. Reports on ﻿weddings and funerals and obituaries of prominent people were often lengthy. Death notices came from a more varied background and could include information on the circumstances of death.

Accident reports were graphic. Reports during the First World War are particularly poignant as pages were filled with profiles of casualties.

Advertisements, generally on the front page for maximum impact, offer a valuable source of information on all aspects of life. In “The Kelso Mail” of January 1804 the main advert informed readers of the signals that would be made across Berwickshire and Roxburghshire on the “enemy’s fleet appearing off the coast”, with the threat of a Napoleonic invasion.

Regular features throughout the years included railway timetables, market prices, local shipping agents offering passages to America, Canada and Australia, notices of farm sales, balls and talks, bankruptcies, tradesmen, and new arrivals at shops from the latest novel by Charles Dickens to India rubber boots!.

If you share my liking for old newspapers, have a look at stories in my "Stop Press series

Names fascinate me too, Susan. I have a Patience in my family tree which seems to have begun around the end of the 18th Century and carried on for a few generations. Bring on the old Newspapers... just love 'em!!! Cheers, Catherine

About Me

I have been interested in family history for years. It all began when I was allowed as a child to look through the old family photographs and memorabilia kept in a shoebox in the cupboard at my grandfather's house. That treat started me on a fascinating ancestral trail.